Without question, the recent 10-day Mecums Auction was the best yet for the company at the Kissimmee, Florida venue. Bidders came from 30 states and several foreign nations to see — and to bid on — nearly 2,500 vehicles in tents set up at the spring training home of the Houston Astros baseball team.
The big-dollar cars were packing Hemi powerplants. The top sale went to a 1969 Hemi Daytona 426 CI/425Hp with only 6,400 miles on the odometer. The car sold for $900,000. Meanwhile, a 1971 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T, a very cool, one-owner and unrestored car with 1,871 miles brought $640,000 on the block.
Showing the diversity of vehicles at the event, the third-biggest sale was a large touring RV/vus, a 2006 Prevost 45-foot In-Country Coach Silver Falls edition. The coach carried a 515-horsepower diesel and had slide outs on both sides. The hammer went down at $600,000.
But perhaps the auction highlights came rock ’n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, aka “The Killer,” was in attendance for the sale of his 1959 Harley-Davidson FLH Duo-Glide motorcycle. No only was he on the block, but the 79-year-old star was at the piano and broke out into a performance of “Great Balls of Faire” when the bike sold for $350,000.
Walking around the action and through the tents of amazing vehicles, I must have taken 200 photographs. The hardest part was narrowing those shots down to this Eye Candy gallery.
In the more than 25+plus years of my automotive journalist career, I have attended just about every major auction, including those where the bidding sometimes begins at $1million. I love them all, but the thing that I love about Mecum more than the others is the diversity of vehicles, and that applies to styles and prices.
I also enjoy the quick pace of vehicles over the auction block. If there is no sale made, the sale goes on. You can work with the owner of the vehicle and Mecum representative to complete a deal later in the tents or in an open field.
There is something here for everybody, even if it’s your first time buying a collector car. But even if you a veteran the trill of a Mecum auction event is as fresh as your first event.
Photos by Bob Long
